Grade Jumps in Biology

I read an example of a job interview question on one of my friend's websites that asked something like this, "Can you give me an example of when you demonstrated integrity in your life?"

The first thing that came to my mind as I tried to answer this question was a flashback to cold chilly day in early November last year. Ok, I don't remember if it was cold or chilly, but that's how I imagined it (and yes, it was only a few months ago, so sue me. Actually, don't. anyway...). i was at Wal-Mart. I had a biology extra credit assignment that I badly needed. For some reason, biology was killing me that semester (actually, I think all my classes were taking turns beating me up like i was a pinata on cinco de mayo...which is how I think you celebrate cinco de mayo without getting drunk). In short, I needed it because I was hovering in C range and anything the teacher was giving me was a mercy shot.

The extra credit assignment required me to draw several examples of tRNA coding, translation, and transcription (I remember this stuff? wow) and then explain it to seven people and get their signatures. I admittedly was late in starting it and the assignment was due that Monday at midnight. So...when do I usually go to Wal-Mart? On Mondays. Before midnight.

Well, by the time I was making my Wal-Mart run I had hurriedly compiled six signatures but couldn't come up with anymore people (because honestly, that's the number of friends I have). Anyway, one of my friends was encouraging me to just force the seventh one and she actually did it for me. Her argument was convincing. I needed it. No one would ever know. Besides, I had actually put in the work for it. And it was just such a little extra credit assignment. Its not that big of a deal. If I didn't do it, I would be an idiot, or at worst, a pansy. Sounds convincing right? Thank you Satan (no attack on her personally XD) .

But then came this thought (ok, this is gonna sound cheesy, but this is how it went). I thought about what kind of person I was. What kind of person I wanted to be. What kind of person I was becoming. I knew if I wanted God's blessings, I needed to be obedient. Even more so, I knew to become the person I wanted it to be, it was little moments like these, when no one else would really know what you did, little choices like these that built people into the heroes I admired. When crunch time came to perform they already proved themselves a thousand times over in a plethora of tiny personal decisions. I wanted to have integrity, even if it was a seemingly insignificant thing. It was a self-conscious evaluation of who I was. I made the decision, and put it away and didn't think of it anymore.

And yay. Moral victory. But wait...this is one of those happy ending stories. hahah.

The next day, there was a devotional by Jon M. Huntsman. His voice was monotone, his talk didn't have any cool stories, his personality wasn't flamboyant, but one thing touched me deeply. He talked about integrity. And halfway through the talk I started to realize that the talk applied to me personally. To me, it was God's way of letting me know I had done the right thing.

But WAIT. it gets BETTER. Yeah, that's right. I'll tell you the story, and you tell me it was coincidence.

At the end of the year, our biology teacher did something unexpected. He told us that if we got a better grade on our Final than our grade in class up to that point it would be replaced by that final grade. I had a C+. I felt I could at least get a B-. so I studied. a lot. And got...

a B-! YES! So it replaced my C+ grade. ..... but that's not all. My teacher then...CURVED the FINAL.... so my Final's grade became a ...get this. 89.6. I was like....."are you seriously kidding me?!?!?" I ended up with an A- that semester in biology (C+ to A- in, basically, one day), a good endorsement from my biology teacher, confidence to do research for the ecology department, a $10000 gift certificate, and backstage passes to all Lights concerts. Ok. Not the last two.

I do understand this doesn't happen all the time. More often than not it ends up with just you knowing what you did. But let me tell you... these little moments take you down a road where you can look back and see how far you've come. I have to say, its worked out so far (Its also worked out winter semester, D+ to A- but that's another story).

So. Don't forget. Integrity. Trust. It matters.